Medea
by Luna Storm13
Summary: Fred and George Weasley meet a girl at Hogwarts that they have never noticed before, but there is more to this girl than meets the eye, she has secrets that even she is not aware of. Story starts during OoTP but will continue into HBP. Warning mentions of: abuse, PTSD, and death. This is a mature story please respect that.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I do not own or claim any right to Harry Potter or any other familiar character encountered in this story. This story is a work of fiction designed to improve my writing skills and as such the only reward I receive from it is practice.

Also, this is my first time allowing anyone to read my work, so while I do appreciate constructive criticism, please make sure that if you are sending me a negative comment you include a way for me to remedy the problem or a suggestion for the further to avoid the problem.

Thank, hope you enjoy!

Fred and George wandered the grounds, trying to avoid the wrath of certain members of their house. Their last prank had gone badly, leaving several of their test subjects with irremovable black eyes. Better to disappear for a little while until the heat wore off while they contemplated how to solve this problem.

The day was miserable, grey and drizzly and cold; the type of weather that no one would willingly choose to go out in, which made it the perfect place for the boys to be. They had long since cast 'keep-me-warm' and 'keep-me-dry' spells on their robes so the weather didn't bother them in the slightest.

"Want to go flying?" George suggested, Fred shrugged in response.

"I dunno, doesn't quite seem like the weather for it does it?"

"Well what do you want to do?"

"Forbidden Forest, maybe?" George shrugged in response, and started walking to the edge of the school grounds, they hit the edge of the Forbidden Forest but did not venture inside of it, choosing instead to wander along the edge of the forest.

They hit a large group of boulders tucked beside the forest and began to climb all over them, trying to out-do each other with how fast and high they could climb, and how far they could jump. Their fun was interrupted by the sound of retching, they turned to look at each other, thinking that perhaps it had been their twin who had suddenly gotten sick, confirming, with a glance, that it was neither of them. They began to look around, the retching sound had turned into a kind of desperate sobbing, and they followed it to the source. A girl, jammed up against one of the larger boulders, looking for all intents and purposes like she was hiding from plain sight.

"Hey are you okay?" they walked over to the sobbing girl, she didn't look okay, her hair hung about her face in wet lanky strands, she was hunched over just having finished puking, she was sobbing, and sitting next to her was a pile of homework, surprisingly dry that was crumpled up and much scratched-out.

"I'm fine, go away."

"Well, you don't look fine." George stated cheerily as he plunked himself down on her left side, with Fred following alongside on her right.

"Look, just leave me alone."

"Not until-"

"You tell us-"

"What's-"

"Wrong." The two boys countered, smiling at her, while Fred helped her up into a sitting position and conjured up a cloth to wipe her face with, while George cleaned up her vomit with a scourgio.

"I'm just having a bad day, please leave."

"Nope." The two responded in perfect sync with a perfectly annoying popping sound on the p.

"Why do you care? I'm a Slytherin, there's no reason for you to concern yourselves with me."

"Look, just because we're in Gryffindor doesn't mean that we like to see a Slytherin hurting. Well maybe Malfoy, annoying little prick, but not every Slytherin. We don't know you, what could we possibly have against you?"

"What wouldn't you?" She muttered in return, the two boys heard her, but we're unsure of how to respond to her comment.

"Look why don't we start over. I'm Fred and this is George. What's your name?"

"...Medea."

"Medea? Nice name, you know I'm pretty sure we've got a fifth or sixth cousin on my father's side with that name. Any chance we're related?"

"Doubt it. I'm a mudblood." She responded angrily, staring determinedly at the ground.

"Never-"

"Ever-"

"Use-"

"That-"

"Word!" The two finished in sync, the anger in their voice surprising her. "You're a muggleborn not that!" She laughed at them, bitterly laughed.

"Trust me when I say I'm not a muggleborn and that I'm a mudblood."

"No, why the hell would you refer to yourself like that?" George demanded of her.

"I'm the first _muggleborn _to be sorted into Slytherin in decades. I'm pretty sure that I learned what a mudblood was before I learned what a muggleborn was. Really it doesn't matter they're just two different terms for the same thing. Doesn't matter how you phrase it, the meaning, the intention is the same. It's like calling a whore a sex worker. Doesn't matter how much you pretty it up, it's still the same damn thing isn't it?"

"Hey now, that's an awfully negative attitude to have. I won't stand up for it. Pure-blood, half-blood, muggleborn, it doesn't matter, they're all the same damn thing. They all mean the same damn thing: magic! You're a witch, which defines you more than your blood ever could!" She shrugged her shoulders in response, staying silent. The pair of them looked at her intently, clearly waiting for her to reply.

"I guess."

"I guess is better than nothing, but we're going to work on this with you. I promise you."

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Nope." The pair once again spoke in sync, popping the 'p'. She really wanted to just wipe those smug smirks off of their faces. She didn't want to talk to anybody right now, why couldn't they get that!

"So tell us, what's the problem? What's got a pretty girl like you so upset?" She shuddered when he called her a 'pretty girl'. She hated those words, hated them with a passion that would never end, too many people had said such words to her in her life, and they were almost always followed up by things she'd rather forget.

"Nothing," They kept staring at her, expectedly, it was like they wouldn't leave her alone until she told.

"Look, just leave me alone."

"No, we're not leaving you alone until you tell us what the problem is and we do our damndest to try to fix it for you."

"Really? You really think you can fix any problem I have? Seriously? How fucking arrogant are you guys?" She was so fucking pissed, it's not like her problems were the namby-pamby ones that everyone else here seemed to have. She didn't care if the boy she liked was dating someone else, she couldn't even be bothered to like a boy. She wasn't fighting with her friends because that would require having friends. She wasn't falling behind in classes she was exactly as far behind as she'd always been. Her problems were actual, serious problems and how dare these children think that they could just fix them! "You're so sure you can fix my problem! So sure that you can make everything better with a smirk and a little magic! Well I'm pregnant! How the fuck are you going to fix that?" She demanded angrily before bursting into tears.

"Well, I was not-"

"Expecting that."

"Yeah, I didn't think you were." She half-smirked at them through her haze of tears.

"Well, I don't think a little wand-waving is going to fix this problem at all, do you George?"

"I'm pretty sure a little wand-waving is more likely what got you into this situation, than is what's going to fix it." She laughed at them, their reactions were not what she was expecting, they were smiling at her, not judging her, one of them, Fred she thought, was rubbing calming circles on her back. A giggle escaped from between her lips, a sound that had become so unfamiliar to her that she sat there stunned when it happened.

"Ah, no one can ever resist the Weasley charm, eventually we get everyone to laugh. Although I'll admit I was expecting more of a challenge from you." George smirked at her. She giggled again, and sat up straight. Maybe these boys couldn't help her, but god-damnit she really needed something to make her laugh. Hogwarts was always so desperately lonely that she often dreamed of escaping back home. Maybe they could be, if not friends, at least friendly to her.

"So, how far along are you?"

"Umm I'm not exactly sure, I think around two, two and a half months."

"Okay, and does the father know?"

"No."

"Are you planning on telling him?"

"No."

"Okay. So, are you feeling okay? Have you been checked out by a healer yet?"

"Umm aren't you going to ask me why I'm not telling the father? Or tell me that he deserves to know?"

"Why would I bother to do that, you don't want to tell the father, then don't. What's happening here is happening to your body, you are the ultimate authority in this. If you thought it was a good idea to tell the father than you would."

"Thank you," she was grateful, she had expected to have to justify not telling the father, possibly having to admit that she did not know who the father was. She did not want to be ashamed that way.

"But if you do decide that you want or need to tell the father and you need some support we'll happily back you up and be there for you."

"Thanks,"

"So have you been checked out by a healer yet? Has Madam Pomfrey seen you?"

"No, I just sort of confirmed it myself this morning. I don't know if I want to go see her, once I see her I have to deal with it. Right now it's just still theoretical."

"Okay, but you need to go, you need to see her, she needs to make sure that you're healthy, and if you want to keep it; that the baby is healthy."

"Yes, but she'll make me make a decision. I don't know if I'm ready to, I don't know what I want to do and she's going to start pressuring me, isn't she?"

"Probably, yes. But she'll be able to give you more information."

"I don't think that's worth it. I already have plenty of information on pregnancy and my options."

"Look, obviously we can't force you to go see Madam Pompfrey, but we are heartily recommending it." She gave them a disbelieving look, obviously expecting them to push further on the matter. Instead the twins helped her to her feet, gathered up her things for her and led her back to the castle. They began chatting about idle light things along the way, trying to steer the conversation to something that would not stress her out. They reached the main doors of the castle and the twins gave each other a questioning look, something seemed to pass between them and then with a nod they steered themselves, with Medea trapped between them, into the middle of the castle, avoiding the main traffic areas and therefore other people, and eventually found themselves in the kitchens. Medea looked around in wonder, and then turned to the twins with questioning eyes.

"We thought you might be hungry." Fred offered.

"And we also thought you probably didn't want to hang out in the Great Hall with everybody else right now." George explained. She nodded in agreement, seemingly dazed, she'd never known that the students could access the kitchens before. Maybe she could start going here for food rather than facing the Great Hall and all of its occupants. With that thought dancing about in her head, the trio sat down to eat, and for the first time in a long time Medea actually meant it when she smiled.


	2. Silence

Author's Note: I do not own or claim any right to Harry Potter or any other familiar character encountered in this story. This story is a work of fiction designed to improve my writing skills and as such the only reward I receive from it is practice. Also, this is my first time allowing anyone to read my work, so while I do appreciate constructive criticism, please make sure that if you are sending me a negative comment you include a way for me to remedy the problem or a suggestion for the future to avoid the problem. Thank, hope you enjoy!

XXXXXXXX = scene breaks

XXXXXXXXX

It was a week and a half before Fred and George spotted Medea again, and they looked for her quite thoroughly in the halls and in the great hall during every meal time, but she had not been there, they had begun to talk about whether or not to try going down to the Slytherin dorms to find her as they approached the kitchen for a mid-afternoon snack.

"Med! There you are, we were worried." George exclaimed in delight, finding her sitting quietly in a corner in the kitchen

"Why?"

"We haven't seen you in like a week and a half. You haven't come to any meals in the great hall? It's like you dropped off the face of the planet!"

"I've been busy, I've had a lot of homework lately and I've been taking my meals here lately. It's quieter." They looked at her doubtfully, while the kitchens were warm and cheery they were also full of noise as the house elves were constantly on the move cooking and cleaning.

"Why haven't you been studying in the library? I'm sure we would have seen you if you'd been there."

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"We're just worried about you."

"Don't be. I'm perfectly fine. I'm just busy trying to stay caught up in my classes."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She woke up in the middle of the night, her stomach cramping painfully, it hurt more than any other cramps she had ever experienced. Something was wrong, she knew it. Knew something was painfully dreadfully wrong with her baby. She tried to get up, tried to move, tried to do something, but the cramps were too much for her, she couldn't get her body to move, to cooperate, the smell of blood hit her nose just as she felt a gush of wetness emerge from her. Something was wrong and she needed help.

"Help! Pansy, Millicent, Tracey, Daphene! Please something's wrong, can you please get Madam Pompfrey! Help me!"

"God shut up you mudblood!" A shrill voice rang through the dorm in response to her pleas. "Some of us are actually trying to get some sleep in here!" the voice quickly muttered a silencing spell, and now no matter how much she screamed they could not hear her. And scream she did, the cramps worsened until she thought she would die, the blood gushed, and her head swam. She needed help but help was not coming.

She became desperate to find help, and manage to roll her way half out of bed, so that her upper half rested on the floor on her shoulders and head, while her lower half was tangled up in the blankets on her bed.

Morning came, and the girls in her room ignored her, dressing quickly and leaving without sparing her a glance.

Medea screamed and wept and begged and tried every spell she could think of to get help but no help came. Eventually she gave up on help, like she had given up on so much. No one was going to come to rescue her, she would die her, in the same pool of blood as her baby.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ms. Parkinson, why is Ms. Wood not in class today?" Snape coldly asked his student, he would not tolerate students skipping his classes.

"She decide to sleep in the morning and miss class." Pansy giggled.

"And why did you not wake her?"

"I tried, she told me she was going to have a lie-in and to leave her alone."

"I see. That is unacceptable." He had time, he mused, to go and drag that miscreant out of bed after his third period potions class with the ravenclaw and hufflepuff third years. It was unfortunate that he had not known earlier he would have gleefully dragged her out of bed during breakfast. Now he had to wait to retrieve her, and waste his precious, but short, prep period before he had to teach a bunch of dunderheaded first years, on waking up his lazy student and punishing her adequately for her actions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Snape entered into the Slytherin common room, it was deserted, even the seventh years who had break at this time were too busy studying in the library for their NEWTS to be found in the common room. He was grateful that he did not have to deal with excessive amounts of students but annoyed that there were no students here to learn that he would not tolerate skipping class.

He made his way along the narrow hallway that the girls' bedrooms were on, as head of house he was able to enter into the girls' wing without repercussions. He knocked on the fifth year's door, waiting for an answer, and when none was forthcoming, he opened it partially, announced his entrance, waited a moment and headed inside. He had no desire to be found in a vulnerable position with a student, although his reputation was impeccable it took only one little lie to bring someone's whole career down.

He was shocked when he first stepped into the room and all he could smell was blood. The source became apparent quickly, Medea was lying half on the floor half on the bed, blood pooling around her. She was looking at the entranceway, clearly begging him for help, but no noise came from her despite the moving of her mouth.

A silencing charm, he realized, who would have put a silencing charm on her? He ended it quickly, and could finally hear her pleas.

"Please, please help me. It hurts, please."

"Do not worry, I will help you. He used his magic to detangle her from her bedding and conjured a stretcher to put her on. As soon as she was placed on the stretcher, her head lolled back, passing out from blood loss.

Severus, quickly began striding out of the dormitories, the stretcher following quietly behind him. He cast a quick invisibility spell on the stretcher, protecting the young girls' privacy, he did not want to be stopped with questions on the way to the infirmary. He strode through the halls, taking every shortcut he knew, his robes flapping about him like a great bat's wings, as he covered the distance with remarkable speed.

He entered the infirmary, removing the invisibility spell as he called for Poppy to come and help them. He carefully lowered her onto the nearest bed, as Poppy entered into the room from her office.

"What's happened?"

"I am unsure, but she has suffered severe blood loss. I found her tangled up on her bed sheets, unable to extract herself."

"Can you get me some blood replenishing potions from the cupboard while I examine her?" He nodded and strode off to the locked medical cupboards in her office.

"Now, let's see what's wrong with you." She ran her wand over Medea's still body, performing a quick diagnostic spell. She received the results just as Severus returned.

"Have you determined what's wrong with her?"

"Yes, she's suffering from a miscarriage."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me correctly, the miscarriage is too far along to stop it, at this point there is little else for me to do but to clean her up, give her some blood replenishing potions, and keep her here on bed-rest for several days."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Snape looked at the group of girls assembled in front of him, every single Slytherin female was gathered in the common room, he had sent the boys back to their dorms, it was impossible that they were responsible for the silencing spell that had been put on the girl.

The silence dragged on as he carefully observed the students in front of him, inwardly fuming at the danger that they had put their fellow student in. The students in front of him squirmed because of his intense stare and his silence, but he did not detect any guilty consciences.

"Sir?" Pansy finally broke the silence that had enveloped the room.

"Yes, Ms. Parkinson?"

"Medea's not here, sir."

"I'm quite aware of that, Ms. Parkinson."

"Do you want one of us to go fetch her?"

"I'm afraid that would be quite impossible right now. Tell me, does anyone here know where Ms. Wood is?"

"She's probably still in bed, she missed all of her classes today."

"She's not in her bed, Ms. Parkinson. Can anyone else hazard a guess as to where she may be?" Dead silence met his question, he glared at every student gathered in the room. Most of the students in the lounge looked confused, the other fifth year girls began to look slightly nervous. He let them squirm for several more minutes before breaking the intimidating silence. "Ms. Wood is currently in the hospital wing." No one said anything, but the fifth year girls went from looking slightly nervous to fully nervous. Ah he had his suspects then, all of them though, that was incredibly disappointing.

"Would anyone like to tell me why she's in the hospital wing?" Silence.

"Well then, someone will please explain why, when I went to check on Ms. Wood's absence this morning, I found her under a silencing spell that prevented her from getting the help she needed." Silence. He glared at the occupants of the room. His eyes finally resting on the ring-leader of the fifth year girls. "Ah, Ms. Parkinson, you will explain."

"Sir, it's just she was causing an awful ruckus last night, she kept talking and wouldn't go to sleep and she was keeping us up. We just wanted a little peace and quiet. We were going to take it off in the morning but she didn't wake up and come to class so we forgot all about it."

"Oh, Ms. Parkinson, I dare say she was awake this morning, she was probably screaming for your help, but your little silencing charm didn't let you hear that, now did it? Because of your actions Ms. Wood has suffered from severe blood loss caused by a miscarriage and will have to spend several days in the hospital. If you had not cast that charm you could have acquired help for her at the start and saved her from this trauma. Now, as to your punishments, that will be fifteen points from each fifth year girl for your careless and cruel actions, you will serve five detentions with me and I will be writing home to all of your parents to explain how disappointed I am in your actions."

"But sir, fifteen points each is 75 points! You wouldn't take that much away from your own house!"

"Your actions could have cost your housemate her life. Be grateful I haven't put Slytherin into the negatives. Your lack of understanding of the seriousness of your actions has cost you another five points and earned you an extra detention. Now would anyone else like to argue with me about this?" Dead silence, several scared looks, and a multitude of mutinous looks from the fifth year girls met his words.

"Good, your first detentions will be served tomorrow evening. I will be expecting you at my office at 5pm sharp." He swept out of the room, leaving the start of a churning gossip mill in his wake once the entrance closed behind him rather than the guilt and shame he had desired and expected.


	3. Impact

"Medea! Are you okay?"

"We just heard what happened to you?" Fred and George burst into the hospital wing, taking a place on either side of the emotionally devastated girl's bed.

"I'm fine." She responded quietly, determinedly, they stared at her in disbelief.

"Are you sure?"

"Course I'm sure, wouldn't have said it otherwise."

"But you just had a miscarriage."

"So, people have them all the time. It's like the universe's way of taking important decisions out of people's hands. Hell, I might even have to thank the universe, now I don't have to feel guilty about what happened, it's not like I chose it."

"Aren't you at least a little upset?"

"What's the point in being upset? It's not going to change anything, I'm better off just moving on and focusing on things I can change."

"But-"

"No."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes."

"It's just-"

"It doesn't matter. Look, if you're going to keep pestering me about this I'd rather you leave. Right now I just want to focus on getting better and getting back to classes. No point crying over spilled milk."

"If you want to talk –"

"I won't"

"We can help-"

"I don't need it."

"We brought you some pudding from the kitchens. Thought it would be tastier than anything Madam Pompfrey was serving you." She smiled gratefully at the twins as George pulled a bowl of pudding out from behind his backs.

"Thanks, nothing better than a Hogwarts pudding to cure what ails you. Want to stay and share it?"

"We'd love to stay, but no need to share-"

"We brought our own." Fred winked as he pulled two more bowls of pudding from behind his back, passing one to George. The twins settled down on Med's hospital bed, one on either side of her and the trio passed several minutes in comfortable silence, the only sound that could be heard was the clink of spoons against bowls, and the quiet moans of delight at the taste.

"What are you doing here?" A cold voice drawled interrupting their happy moment.

"Professor-"

"Snape, we were-"

"Just visiting-"

"Medea. And we-"

"Thought we'd bring-"

"Her some pudding-"

"To make her feel-"

"Better."

"I see. Did Madam Pompfrey approve this addition to Ms. Wood's diet?"

"Well, not exactly."

"You see, she wasn't here when we got here."

"But we figured she wouldn't object."

"We figured that just like a dementor's attack-"

"Chocolate would help heal Med."

"Your logic is completely unsound boys, the physiological impact of a dementor attack is completely different from what Ms. Wood has experienced."

"Well we did assume that."

"We thought it was the emotional impact that would remain the same."

"We figured it couldn't hurt to try the same methods of healing." Snape gave a sniff of disapproval at their logic, before his eyes seemed to flicker with some unknown emotion. The boys sent worried looks at each other. Unexpected emotions and Snape were a dreadful combination.

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, if you would be so kind as to come talk to me privately."

"Why?" They spoke in unison.

"None of your business." Snape snarled at them.

"Than why should we?"

"Five points from Gryffindor each for your insolence. Now come." Snape stalked off to the entrance of the hospital wing, the twins warily followed, unsure of what to expect. They barely heard Snape mutter a silencing spell so that others could not hear their conversation.

"Tell me, what do you know of Ms. Wood's condition?"

"She had a miscarriage."

"And how did you find this out?"

"_Everyone _knows that she had a miscarriage and they're all talking about it. It seems as if your Slytherins could not wait to spread the news far and wide."

"Ah, but you're the only ones to have visited her so far. Why is that?"

"I don't know why Med doesn't have more friends and I don't see that as any concern of yours. If you'd cared sooner about her friends than I would have thought you'd have made the other students stop bullying her."

"George," Fred began warningly.

"What?" George snapped. "He deserves to know, the slytherins are the worst of everybody, too. She hides out in the kitchens rather than facing the Great Hall for food because they're so terrible!"

"George!" Fred shouted before Snape could respond. "I think Professor Snape is implying that we have a more _personal _reason to be visiting Med."

"What the hell does that mean."

"What that means, Mr. Weasley, as your twin so logically deducted, is that I wish to know whether or not one of you was the father."

"Oh."

"Such a succinct answer, perhaps you could elaborate further."

"Neither of us was the father."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because Med said she was about two-and-a-half nearly three months along by now. That meant she would have to have gotten pregnant before coming back to Hogwarts."

"That does not prevent either of you from having been the father, you could have met up at any point during the holidays."

"The first time we talked to Med was two weeks ago."

"Do not waste my time with such ridiculous lies."

"It's no lie, sir. She's two years below us and a Slytherin-"

"If we hadn't found her crying on the grounds-"

"We probably would never have talked to her."

"And why, pray tell, was Ms. Wood crying?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Enlighten me."

"She was upset about being pregnant, she wasn't sure what to do about it."

"We figured she'd just confirmed her pregnancy when she'd been trying to deny it to herself for ages."

"And wasn't handling the news very well."

"You expect me to believe this wild story?"

"Yes." They said in unison.

"If I were to ask Ms. Wood right now would she confirm what you had to say?"

"Yes, because it's true!" Fred snapped.

"Then tell me, if neither of you is responsible for Ms. Wood's condition, who is?"

"She didn't tell us who the father was."

"Also, I think she's partially responsible for her condition. I mean it takes two-"

"To tango." George finished, annoyed at the professor for assuming that Med, as a teenage girl, was somehow not responsible for her own actions or had automatically been taken advantage of. Odds were she had chosen to sleep with someone, and while Med had never revealed the father, it was unfair to assume that the father was ultimately a nefarious bastard.

Snape glared at the Weasley twins in front of him, before swiftly kicking them out of the hospital wing. The twins glanced worriedly at Medea, waving goodbye to her, and calling out a promise to visit soon.

XXXXXXXXX

Medea glanced up as Professor Snape stood above her bed. His presence made her nervous, but she had a hazy memory of him finding her. She wasn't sure how she should feel about his presence.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Wood?"

"Fine."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"No." She swore that she heard him subtly sigh but she couldn't be certain it was too quiet.

"What do you remember of what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were found in your room, under a silencing spell, tangled up in your blankets, covered in blood, and on the floor. How did this happen?" A small part of her that had thought her head of house had cared enough to rescue her snapped. It had not been him. He had not come to find her when she had missed his class. He did not care about her enough to find her.

"I woke up last night to severe cramps, I guess it was the start of my miscarriage, I must have put up the silencing charms, accidentally, so that I didn't disturb my roommates. It hurt too much to get up for classes, but when I felt the blood I knew there was something wrong so I tried to get up and come here but I guess I just couldn't. I got stuck in my blankets, and fell, and couldn't get up."

"That is your story?"

"Yes."

"Do not lie to me Ms. Wood."

"I'm not."

"Yet another lie. It was obvious that you were not responsible for putting that silencing spell up, accidental magic or not, because if you had been your own desperate desire to get help would have caused that spell to cancel itself. Now, try again and do not lie to me."

"I don't know how the silencing spell got on me."

"Yet another lie. Five points from Slytherin."

"Why do you think I'm lying to you?"

"Because you are. Now tell the truth or you will have a month's worth of detentions."

"I must have been making noise and annoyed someone so they put the silencing spell on me so that they could get some sleep."

"Ah and what leads you to that conclusion." She glared at him. "Answer me, and do not try my patience further by lying."

"I heard somebody tell me to shut up before the spell was put on me."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure, it hurt too much to concentrate."

"What exactly were you doing that was so loud?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, it most certainly is. Now tell me."

"Moaning."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not!"

"You're such an obvious liar, Ms. Wood, that I find it rather distressing to have you continue lying to my face. Now tell me what you were doing that was so loud that your roommates would put silencing charms on you."

"Fine you want to know so fucking bad! Then fine! I was begging them to help me! But it's not like they would care enough to do that. I was disturbing their precious beauty sleep which was obviously more fucking important than me having a god-damn miscarriage! Are you damn well satisfied with yourself?"

"You misinterpret my intention in getting you to tell the truth. I sought the truth so that I could appropriately punish the necessary individuals and to prevent such problems from occurring in the future. I did not wish to demean you or your experiences." She huffed, literally huffed at him, he had to restrain the urge to reprimand her. Had to remember that she was suffering and that she was lashing out at whoever was near.

"I'm sure."

"Doubt me all you wish, I have already given you the motives behind my questioning. But since we are on the matter of truth I have more questions that need to be answered."

"Well I don't want to."

"That is unfortunate for you. It does not change the necessity. Now tell me, who was the father?"

"That's none of your damn business!"

"As a student in my house you are my responsibility, therefore it is my business to know who has gotten you pregnant."

"It didn't happen when I was here. So it's not your concern."

"I beg to differ. Now tell me."

"No."

"Do you wish for me to give you some veritassium. I assure you it would make getting these answers so much easier for me. Of course you'd tell the truth about absolutely everything, which could get rather _embarrassing_ for you." She seemed to pale before his eyes. This was an effective threat then. Inwardly he smiled, he knew how easily teenage girls were embarrassed, how tightly they held even the most meaningless secrets, it appeared Ms. Woods was no different.

"It was just a muggle boy."

"You're lying Ms. Wood."

"I'm not!"

"Then tell me, what was his name?"

"Jeremy Andrews."

"Lying. Now tell me the truth or I will pour that potion down your uncooperative throat."

"I...I don't know his name."

"Were you attacked Ms. Woods?" He tried to be gentle when he asked, this was a matter of concern. It was unfortunate that he had been glowering at her and threatening her only a moment before. This was not likely to inspire trust.

"No." She informed him adamantly. "It's just I met this guy, and we kind of hooked up, but we didn't even bother to exchange names or numbers or anything." She seemed embarrassed by the admission, but he did not doubt her sincerity when she denied assault.

"Were you sober at the time of this incident Ms. Woods?"

"Umm well that depends on your definition of sober. I wasn't pissed out of my mind or anything, but yeah I'd had a few drinks, but so did the other guy."

"And how did you get access to this alcohol?"

"I've got a fake id. I thought I'd try it out at a local club. It worked. Big surprise."

"And what possessed you to go to a club? To get a fake I.D.? To drink alcohol?"

"Everyone does it."

"But you are not everyone, you are a Slytherin and I expected better of you than such disgusting muggle practices."

"Yeah well I'm a muggleborn, I live in a muggle neighbourhood during the summers, and if I didn't do it I would be even more suspicious than I currently am. I'm just being a Slytherin, playing a part. Everyone in the neighbourhood already thinks it's weird enough that I go away to school ten months out of the year. No one's ever done that before, so I have to be absolutely, perfectly normal in every other way so that no one begins to suspect that I'm more than a girl that got lucky enough to get a random scholarship to some fancy boarding school."

"A pitiful excuse."

"You mean a Slytherin cunning."

"Do you honestly believe that anyone cares enough to try to discover your secret that they may stumble upon the existence of magic?"

"Well yeah, in my neighbourhood knowledge is power, the more you know about someone the more you can exploit them. Any weaknesses are pounced upon, and if you're different without a good reason you better have someone watching your back. If it looked like I had something that made me special or different they'd try to figure out what so that they could exploit it for their own goals. It's why I have to be normal in everything when I'm at home."

"If that is the case, what reason have you given your _neighbourhood _for your attendance at a boarding school?"

"They believe I got a scholarship to a second-rate boarding school outside of the city, because I managed to write a rather compelling essay about the challenges and disadvantages I faced in gaining an education, the lack of decent schools available in my area, and my burning desire to improve myself in order to make a life for myself."

"You will forgive me if I doubt that any of them actually believes this."

"Doubt all you wish. I know what works."

"Ms. Woods I expect to see you in detention with me, every Friday evening at seven pm precisely until the end of the school year or-"

"Why? What the hell did I do wrong?"

"You put yourself in a dangerous situation that ultimately resulted in your miscarriage."

"I wasn't at school then! It shouldn't count, you shouldn't be able to put me in detention for that."

"I am your head of house, while you are at Hogwarts I am In Loco Parentis, which means that I function with all the legal rights and responsibilities of your parents. Therefore I can punish you for your actions outside of Hogwarts, especially if they affect you within Hogwarts."

She huffed in reply.

"Now as I was saying you will serve detentions with me every Friday evening until the end of the school year or until you can competently brew both a contraceptive potion and a sobriety potion."

"What?"

"If you are going to insist on getting yourself into these dangerous situations like some bullheaded Gryffindor than I will ensure that you are at least prepared for them as any Slytherin should be. You will learn how to make a contraceptive potion to prevent not only anymore pregnancies but also to protect you from STI's. In addition you will learn to brew a sobriety potion, so that whenever you decide to pull these stunts you will be able to remain perfectly sober no matter how much you have to drink. Once you can properly brew both these potions you will develop a stock of them that will return home with you for the holidays. If for whatever reason you run out of either potion, which you should have enough to avoid, you may contact me during the holidays and I shall send you more. Any that I send you; you will have to brew and replace once you are back at Hogwarts. Now am I clear?"

She nodded seemingly numb.


	4. Loneliness

_Author's Note: _

_Sorry for the long delay in posting the latest chapter, I've kind of had writers block and a rather hectic and busy summer. I've got a bunch of scenes already written out (actually I've had them since like February) but they are all much further into the story, almost all of them taking place during the summer. So it's been a bit of a problem trying to create scenes that fit in between what I'd already written._

_I'm a little unsure of this chapter, I feel like the writing is sup-par, so I'd love to have some reviews on what you guys think. If you notice any grammar/spelling errors be sure to let me know and I'll fix it right away._

_Once again standard disclaimer applies, I own nothing here (except my OC), and I don't profit from this work._

_XXXXXXX = scene break_

Medea was released from the hospital a week after she had been brought there unconscious by her professor. Her return to Slytherin was somewhat anti-climatic, no one talked to her when she returned, and she had another three days of bed rest to look forward to before she would be allowed back in classes.

Medea slowly trudged down the hallway to her dorm room and sat herself down on her bed cautiously. It wasn't that different from before, she reflected, sure a few more people were ignoring her, less hateful comments directed at her, no random hexes coming her way. All-in-all it might be better this way than before. She closed her bed-curtains not even bothering to change into her pyjamas and snuggled in underneath her covers. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she tucked an arm underneath her pillow to cushion her hand and it encountered something moving.

Her hand burned and she quickly pulled it out from under her pillow, cautiously lifted her pillow and snorted in amusement.

"A flesh-eating slug! Really, is that the best they can do?" Medea crawled off of her bed and went to her trunk to pull out a cage that she had acquired for her Care of Magical Creatures Class with Hagrid. She carefully scooped the flesh-eating slug into the cage, casting the proper spell to make sure that its corrosive spit wouldn't damage the cage, and then placed the cage on her nightstand with a note for the house-elves asking that they please bring the flesh-eating slug, complete with cage, to Hagrid as she was on bed rest.

Medea snorted in amused derision again before lifting up her sheets to see if there were any other creature surprises waiting for her in bed. She found three more flesh-eating slugs hiding at the bottom of her bed and quickly placed them into the cage with the original.

Slightly more cautious she lowered herself to look underneath her bed, grateful that the girls hadn't returned to the dorm room for the night yet. She didn't want to be caught looking like a scared little girl because of their stupid trick. But Medea was nothing if not cautious, and maybe just a teensy weensy tiny touch paranoid; which in this case turned out to be a good thing as underneath her bed she found not flesh-eating slugs but rather a runespoor. The three-headed snake was African in origin and highly venomous. Not something that would just wander into the castle and then find its way into the Slytherin girl's dorm. This was obviously deliberate.

Medea gave a small sigh, and hoping it would work called out for a house-elf to appear. Although the house-elves had assured her several times, when she was in the kitchens eating, that if she called them they would appear she hadn't believed them.

To her delight one did.

"Miss Wood called for Loppy?"

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind terribly would you be able to do me a great big favour and tell Professors Snape and Hagrid that there is a runespoor snake in the fifth year Slytherin girls' dorm, please."

"Yes, Loppy be happy to help!" Loppy exclaimed excitedly before disappearing as silently as he had appeared.

Medea stayed where she was on the floor contemplating her options, if what she remembered from Hagrid was correct the runespoor snake did not like sudden movements or loud noises, so provided she stayed still and quiet the first head would probably take plenty of time to think about what it wanted to do and the middle head would not be disturbed from its dreaming. The third head was still a worry because it rather enjoyed biting people but as long as she was out of immediate bite range she would be fine because the first two heads were unlikely to move the whole body to get to her without significant contemplation.

That at least was a relief. She wondered idly if whoever had done this had known enough about runespoors to be confident in her safety or if they had simply picked a snake at random.

Medea slowly tilted her head back, trying to see if there was anything at the top of her bed that she should be concerned about. After all whoever had done this had put something in her bed, and under her bed, so it would only make sense to put something at the top of her bed.

And oh look she was right. "Huh, a cocoon spider eh? I guess they are really trying to kill me. Damn lucky the thing didn't start wrapping me up as soon as I lay down." Cocoon spiders, she absently noted to herself, were capable of fully wrapping a grown human in a cocoon within thirty seconds. Medea carefully fingered her wand, and debated whether or not she should just leave the room after all. It would be difficult to defend herself from both creatures if they decided to attack her at the same time. But so far both seemed relatively undisturbed by her presence.

Her decision was taken away from her hands as the door to the room flung open and Snape strode in.

"If you were making a joke about their being a runespoor in here you will have detention every night from now until the end of the school year."

"I'm not, it's under the bed." Snape strode towards her bed to take a look underneath to see if she was lying or not. He began to kneel down when her voice suddenly interrupted him. "I'd be careful if I were you, there's a cocoon spider almost directly above your head." He looked up, his face displaying surprise, which was impressive, she thought, as he rarely wore anything but a sneer.

"What, pray tell, are you still doing in this room then? It's obviously not safe for you in here, you idiot girl."

"I'm waiting for Hagrid to arrive, I was hoping he could take the runespoor and keep it safe instead of just killing it, plus the runespoor and the spider both seem to be pretty relaxed at the moment."

"You dunderhead they can both move faster than you can react."

"Than I won't do anything to piss them off."

"At the very least you silly child you will move yourself to the far end of the room, while I begin to contain these creatures." She nodded her acquiescence and moved to the far end of the room, keeping a careful eye out in case there were any other creatures hiding in the dorm room. Surely not, after all the other girls wouldn't want to risk having too many creatures in here in case one of them decided to invade their beds.

Hagrid arrived several minutes later after Snape had already put both creatures into a stasis charm, although Snape was obviously annoyed over both having to preserve the creatures and having Hagrid appear in the girl's dorms to collect them. Hagrid, on the other hand, was over the moon at having the chance to add a runespoor to his pet collection.

Hagrid left soon afterwards with all the creatures, thanking Medea and Snape profusely for the animals. Snape went to leave, pausing at the door to glare at her and assign her an extra detention for her refusal to leave the room during a dangerous situation.

Medea sighed after they left, climbed into her bed, drew the curtains around herself, and hoped that the girls would leave her alone for the rest of the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was freezing cold outside, and Medea was already soaked to the bone, but she was contentedly piling snow, by hand, onto a growing pile. She smiled happily as the pile continued to grow, thankful for the fresh snowfall of last night. She jumped when a voice snapped her out of her happy musings.

"What are you doing?" Fred questioned her, his face alight with confusion.

"I'm building a quinzee."

"A what?" George asked.

"Is this a muggle thing?"

"Sort of, it is a muggle thing, but it's not a common muggle thing. It's a snow-house."

"A snow-house?"

"Yeah."

"Why would you want a snow-house? Wouldn't it melt on hot days?"

"Or be, you know, cold on cold days?"

"Not a very stable structure, I'd say, Gred."

"I'd have to agree with you, Forge."

"Are you two done?" She asked them in exasperation, not bothering to look at the pair, but continuing to pile snow on the mound that had already formed.

"Just about, yeah."

"But seriously, why?"

"Because I've always wanted to." She smirked.

"Alright, so what exactly is a quinzee, besides a snow-house? How do you make one?"

"Well a quinzee is sort of like an igloo. Have you heard of an igloo before?"

Fred and George looked at each, seemingly confirming each other's knowledge before replying with a simple "Nope!"

"Okay, so what I was told was that in North America, Canada especially, quinzees are made as a form of shelter in the winter from harsh conditions, they aren't meant for long-term living, but can last for several months if the weather conditions hold and the builder is good enough. Quinzees are essentially snowmounds that have been hollowed out to create a shelter. You need to create the mound from scratch to ensure that the snow is compact enough. Once you have the mound created you need to let it rest for a couple of hours to let it settle. Afterwards you hollow it out, using sticks to help gauge how thick the walls are."

"Cool, can we help?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's mine."

"Okay, why aren't you using magic for this?"

"Because."

"Okay, where did you learn all of this anyway?"

"In a book, a storybook that my mum used to read to me. I always wanted to create one, but there was never enough snow in the city to do it."

"So you're making one now."

"Yeah." She smiled wistfully, as she continued to pile snow.

"Do you mind if we hang out with you?"

"We promise not to help."

"You can stay I guess." Fred and George settled on the ground to watch her build her quinzee, joking with each other as they always had, but every attempt on their part to engage Med in their conversation was met with absolute silence. She didn't acknowledge them in any way, and the two began to worry about the cause of her strange behaviour.

It seemed like hours later that Medea stood up and declared that phase of her building done. She strode quickly away from the snow mound and Fred and George hurried to catch up with her.

"Aren't you going to put some protective spells in place or something?" George questioned her with a worried frown, she'd been so intent on her task that they had expected her to do anything to ensure the safety of her quinzee.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because if I were to put up any kind of spell around my quinzee it would bring attention to it. You know there is bound to be some student who notices the ward or the illusion that I'll place on it and question it further and investigate and the next thing you know it won't be mine anymore. If I leave it like it is no one will think anything of it, it'll just be another random mound of snow. Sometimes there's safety in anonymity."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Medea quickly fell into the habit of doing all her homework in her quinzee. The only ones that even knew of her quinzee's existence, aside from it being a random mound of snow, were Fred, George, Hagrid and her. Which meant she was mostly left to her own devices when she was inside it.

Her quinzee made her feel safe, and real, and connected in a way that she hadn't in ages. It reminded her of her mum and Medea wished more than anything that she had been able to share her quinzee with her mum. Her mum had always promised that one day they'd have enough money to leave London for a weekend and go somewhere where there was snow and fields and forests. And they would explore and play and build a quinzee and just be together. But her mum was gone now, it was just her, just her and that's why she built the quinzee by herself. This quinzee was her own personal tribute to her mum. She'd never gotten to see her mum's grave as her mum's family had taken her mum's body away to be buried when she was at Hogwarts and they hadn't bothered to tell her where her mum's final resting place was.

And god she hated them for that! More than she had ever hated her mum's family before. She hated them so much now, before she just hated them with a child's passion as she raged against their rejection of both her and her mum. But rejecting them was nothing compared to them taking away her mum's body so she'd never get a chance to say good-bye to her.

So she built this quinzee, a tribute to her mum, and she remembered all those nights when her mum had snuggled her up and read to her about the frozen north and the family that had built a quinzee to protect them from the darkness and the night. She'd always imagined the two of them snuggled together in their very own quinzee, safe, secure, and loved. But now it was just her and she couldn't even bear the thought of sharing her quinzee with anyone else. Even letting Fred and George watch her build it had been almost too much for her to take, this was private and special, but they were her first and only friends here and she didn't want to lose them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Snape consulted his student list as curfew struck, he'd set the list up to identify when students were out of the dorm after hours, and he checked every night, several times a night, unlike those other heads of house, he snorted, he actually made sure that his students obeyed the school rules.

Only one name was highlighted on the list, he was somewhat surprised by it, never having had Ms. Wood stay out past curfew before, but he supposed he shouldn't be surprised, after all she was the only one currently in Slytherin that had been pregnant to his knowledge. She was probably off right now having herself a tryst with a student from a different house.

He rose from his desk, determined to find Ms. Wood before she had the chance to engage in any inappropriate actions. "Point me Medea Wood," he commanded his wand, following it as it led him from the dungeons. When he reached the entrance to the castle and realized that his wand was insisting that she was outside he began to worry. She had no reason to be outside, that he knew of, and it was a cold January night, -20˚C, she would be freezing if she was outside, if she had been out here long enough she might have contracted hypothermia. His mind flashed back to a few months ago when he had found her in a pool of her own blood under a silencing charm. Had something happened to her? Had a prank gone wrong leaving her vulnerable again?

He strode off across the lawns searching for his way-ward student with a troubled frown.

"E'rything all right, Professor?" Hagrid's booming voice startled him, making him jump, but Snape turned with a frown towards the larger man.

"A student of mine is out past curfew and it appears that she is out here somewhere."

"Well, I'll help you look." Hagrid offered, face falling into serious lines, a rare expression for him Snape thought. "Which student is it we're looking for?"

"Ms. Wood." Snape sneered at the name and continued to stalk off in the direction the wand was pointing. Hagrid's larger strides kept him easily apace with Snape, so Snape did not bother to slow his walk down, not that he would have in the first place, he sneered to himself, a student out after curfew was no time to move slowly.

"Reckon she's out in her quinzee, then, Professor?"

"Her what?" Snape snapped at Hagrid, annoyed at his lack of knowledge.

"Her quinzee, she built it a couple weeks back, spends most of her free time in there."

"And what, exactly, is a quinzee?" Snape drawled, his voice dangerously low.

"Well it's kind of a like a snow hut. It's a mound of snow with a hollowed out room inside." Fantastic, Snape sneered to himself, she'd created a room for her to engage in various shenanigans without the watchful eyes of the staff and the ghosts to keep track of her and make her obey the rules. Except of course for that bumbling oaf Hagrid.

"And you haven't told anybody about this before?"

"Course not; she asked me not to, worried it would be destroyed if people caught word of it. She let me know of course, so I would know not to hurt it, but she made sure not many people knew." Snape's sneer reached, if anything, even greater proportions as he increased his pace crossing the lawn, in the distance he could see a flickering light and he aimed himself towards it. Hagrid, for once, picked up on the social cues and fell silent as he walked beside him.

The light continued to flicker the closer they got, Hagrid confirming that it was coming from her quinzee. Once they were within spell-casting distance he raised his wand and blew apart the wretched thing, expecting to catch Ms. Wood and another student in a rule-breaking act. The way the light from her wand had flickered had indicated that she was distracted.

So he was understandably confused when he looked at the sleeping girl on the ground, surrounded by homework, as her wand continued to flicker with her breathes. The homework, he noted was dry despite its crinkled and much-scratched out nature. Unlike the girl herself who was soaked through to the bone, having clearly been lying on the snow-covered ground for a long time.

Her wand continued to flicker, he noticed absently, only the strongest of wizards were able to maintain spells such as this in their sleep, Ms. Wood had given no previous signs of anything beyond barest magical and academic ability. Perhaps this was just a notable exception and nothing else.

Snape flicked his wand and a chorus of bells began chiming; jerking Ms. Wood out of her ill-planned sleep. She looked around, seemingly dazed, trying to get her bearings. Reality seemed to hit her all at once as she turned a hate-filled glare on her professor.

"You destroyed it!"

"You are out after curfew, Ms. Wood."

"So you decided to destroy my property as a punishment?"

"I hardly think that a mound of snow could be considered property, and even if it could it would belong to the school not to you."

"Why the hell did you destroy it!?"

"I was under the impression that your dormitory was where you were supposed to be sleeping, not underneath a mound of snow on the school grounds."

"So wake me up and kick me inside next time! I fell asleep and missed curfew, it wasn't intentional, I was just trying to get some homework done in the quiet and now you've destroyed it!"

"There is a library in which to complete one's homework, Ms. Wood, a fact that has perhaps escaped your knowledge based on your abysmal grades over the years." She straightened herself up with a huff, collecting her books and papers by hand. Clutching her wand in her free hand, she turned towards the two professors, and for a moment Snape thought he saw her contemplate hexing him, before she seemed to calm down enough to lower her wand to her side.

"Whatever, can I just go inside now?"

"Of course you can, Ms. Wood, but you will be serving three detentions with me for being out after curfew, and you have lost your house twenty points for your attitude this evening."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

She'd been too slow leaving charms today, and she'd known it. She knew it wasn't a good idea to wander the dungeons alone, that she should have just gone straight to the library or something, but she hated the library, it was oppressive, cloying, she couldn't feel the wind or the sun or even the cold there. Not that the dungeons or the Slytherin dorms were much better, if anything they were worse, she felt the whole weight of the castle pushing down on her when she was in them, but they were her dorms and they were where her textbooks were kept. Medea knew she had to finish that essay for Professor McGonagall before next week, which meant she needed her Transfiguration textbooks, so she needed to go get her books from the dorm before she could find a quiet place to study where she could actually breathe and focus and think. If only she hadn't been running so far behind she might have been able to just slip along with the crowd and have no one pay any attention to her.

Crabbe's hands pushing her into the wall of a deserted classroom in the dungeons reminded her, rather painfully, that that had not been the case.

Goyle leered at her as Crabbe went down to try to kiss her, she twisted her head to the side forcefully, trying to avoid his gaping mouth. She was successful. To a point.

His hand left her left arm to crush her face in his hand and redirect it for a kiss. She wanted to gag, it was so gross, did he even brush his teeth?

Goyle reached into the gap on her left side and began to painfully fondle her breast. She squirmed trying to get away, wishing they hadn't already managed to steal her wand so she could do more to fight back.

Her knee reacted almost instinctively jabbing up into Crabbe's exposed crotch, Crabbe suddenly let her go, crumbling to his knees, holding his crotch and making a high-pitched whining sound. She turned to run away but was held back by the hand still painfully crushing her chest. She was slammed back against the wall, but her right arm remained free, she thrust the heel of her palm into the bottom of his nose, throwing her whole body into it, what wasn't restrained by his groping painful hold. She heard a distinctive loud crack, felt warm blood spurt onto her hand, and his hands finally let go of her.

She ran to the door, but just as she arrived it was flung open, and Draco Malfoy walked in loudly calling for Crabbe and Goyle.

"Crabbe, Goyle, where have you two idiots gotten to- What the hell is happening here? What did you do to them Wood?" Malfoy spun around and turned his wand on her.

"They were attacking me, I just fought back. You can't blame me for that."

"You've injured them."

"They were trying to hurt me."

"I doubt Snape or Umbridge would see it that way."

"You wouldn't."

"Of course I would. I was just appointed as leader of the Inquisitorial Squad, and what better way to celebrate than to turn you in for attacking other students in the corridors. Umbridge will be very upset to see what you have done to Crabbe and Goyle, they are two of her favourite students you know."

"What the fuck are you looking for here? What do you want me to do to get you to leave this alone?"

"Nothing. You're more useless than Longbottom, Weasley, and Potter put together. You've got nothing of value and zero influence. At this point being a pawn for other Slytherin's aims is the most you can hope for out of life. Best be resigned to it now." He smirked at her before binding her with magically created ropes. Crabbe and Goyle slowly, and in the case of Crabbe rather painfully, followed the pair of them up to Umbridge's office.


End file.
